2018 Ryder Cup: Time for tough love from U.S. captain Jim Furyk

At the depths of Team USA’s historic afternoon pummeling, Furyk’s winning four-ball lineup was long forgotten as soon as the oddball alternate-shot pairing of Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson fell woefully behind.

But Furyk had to get everyone game action even if Mickelson’s driving should have kept him on the bench. Furyk also could not have anticipated five birdies in a seven-hole stretch from Sergio Garcia and Alex Noren.

How about the American captain’s benching of Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau following their impressive come-from-behind win against Justin Rose and Jon Rahm?

When the afternoon lineup was set, Koepka-Finau were two down through 10. And Furyk wanted to get everyone into the opening session.

To those questioning the foursomes pairing of Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson?

You know the drill: Furyk was determined to get everyone into at least one opening-day match.

Some will even blame Furyk for letting the Americans return to their ‘90s roots of woeful alternate-shot play after a recent U.S. resurgence in that department. Since 2008, Americans have only been outscored by a point in Ryder Cup alternate-shot play until Friday’s 4-0 Euro foursomes rout.

By playing all 12 Americans on Day 1, Furyk assessed his team and now must whittle down his lineup, even if that means leaving several players on the sidelines all day Saturday.

Furyk’s rolling out the successful Koepka-Finau pairing and needs to play those supreme athletes all day. They are America’s best ballstrikers right now and should be well-rested after sitting out Friday afternoon.

Next, run Woods out for two rounds if he’s able, but don’t be afraid to change his partnership. The Woods-Patrick Reed vibe stunk and gets one more chance to shine. While Woods might be gassed after the playoff run, he also might respond to a pairing with someone like Bryson DeChambeau or Rickie Fowler in foursomes.

While Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas lost 4 and 3 to Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, their bond remains strong and you can chalk that loss up to facing a European powerhouse team clicking on all cylinders.

And the toughest call of all: bench Mickelson for the day.

Even though he’s a big part of why Furyk is captain and he did not handle a benching maturely when Tom Watson kept him out of a session four years ago at Gleneagles, Mickelson is not one of the eight best Americans this week. After play, Furyk said if he had to do it all over again, he’d use the Mickelson-DeChambeau pairing in foursomes.

Diplomatic and respectful for sure, but also absurd.

Furyk is aware that entering Saturday’s play two points down is far from fatal. Since 1979, the team holding a lead after the first session has gone on to win seven of 12 times, including Team USA four times.

But Furyk should tell the team that’s life and send them off for some much-needed rest. Then he needs to keep that lineup pencil sharp, move to tough love mode Saturday, and ride his very best players.

That’s reality when you haven’t won a Ryder Cup on European soil in a quarter century.